The sale of WVXU to WGUC has been a singular cultural boon to greater Cincinnati. Gone are the peculiar programs that WVXU's sentimental staff scheduled to satisfy microniche audiences. Now the station delivers consistent news and talk. SWNID is punching up 91.7 more often these days.
But the new regime has made room for some music on weekend evenings. Not the old "Audiosyncracies" or "When Swing Was King" hit-or-miss assemblages. Something incomparably better and more important.
They have brought back Oscar Treadwell, simply the greatest DJ ever on radio. Period. And this is not just SWNID's opinionated judgment. Is there another DJ to whom Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk dedicated tunes?
For years OT taped jazz shows from his home studio for airing late at night on classical WGUC. Those shows ended a few years ago when WGUC made the sensible decision to air only their signature classical music format (now made even purer with the migration of "All Things Considered" to the reconstituted WVXU). For awhile OT presented his program on the old WVXU, and then for a couple of hours on Saturday nights on a commercial station broadcasting "smooth jazz" (i.e. instrumental R&B for people who hate jazz). But when that station traded its format for disco and Motown grooves, OT went to a tiny swing-music station, and then retired. He looked to be done for good.
Until his old friends at WGUC bought a station and made him a place on it.
What makes OT the greatest DJ ever? He has everything: the best bass announcer's voice ever, the best collection of jazz recordings outside of Japan, an encyclopedic knowledge of the music and musicians, impeccable taste for the best music from all jazz eras and genres, an ear for tasty contemporary poetry that he reads in every show, and the best sign-off catchphrase ever ("sweet love").
Cincinnati used to be a wonderful place for jazz radio. When I first came here in 1977, I was amazed to hear jazz all day from the Jazz Ark, WNOP, and OT at night on WGUC. But first OT disappeared, and then Heidelberg Distributing decided to stop losing money on WNOP (SWNID still on special occasions proudly wears his "day the music died" t-shirt to commemorate the late, great jazz station).
But OT is back. And he's just as great as ever. I'm listening right now. You should be too.
3 comments:
WNOP! How I miss it. Whales Never Outgrow Pimples!
It's great to have OT back on the air, isn't it? And WVXU is suddenly -- finally -- listenable.
WNOP made life livable back in the day. the fact that they shared their signal with a Canadian station and thus would sign off every evening (at what, 6pm?) was peculiar, but they certainly played some excellent tunes.
also back in the day, WVXU played some decent jazz - sure, sure, you had to search around to find when it was on, but...
*sigh*
They'd sign off at sunset, whenever that happened to be each day. The last song was always Lou Rawls' version of the "Star-Spangled Banner."
We're Not Ohio Property.
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